The Mystery of Arabic Letters in the Qur'an - 382

Est. Read time: 3 min
Edition Number: 382
Adapted from: The Heart of the Quran
Instructor: Mufti Shaykh Farhan Zubairi

Assalamu Alaykum,

Today’s gem is from Shaykh Farhan Zubairi’s course, The Heart of the Quran. In this gem, Farhan Zubairi explains The mysterious letters at the beginning of certain surahs remind us of two timeless lessons: first, that the Qur'an’s message was revealed in a way to capture attention and awaken reflection; and second, that human knowledge is limited while the knowledge of Allah ﷻ is infinite. These letters humble us, reminding us to approach the Qur'an with sincerity, curiosity, and intellectual humility, seeking not just to read, but to be guided.

Hope you enjoy!

We begin in the Name of Allah ﷻ, the Most Merciful and Compassionate,
We ask that He ﷻ sends Peace and Blessings upon our noble and beloved
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

That if no one knows what these letters mean then why would ALLAH ﷻ mention them in the Qur'an. That the main purpose of the Qur'an is guidance, the main purpose of the Qur'an is hidayah. So why would ALLAH ﷻ mention letters and words that nobody knows what they mean? So the scholars they mention possible reasons.

So for example, they say these letters are mentioned at the beginning of surahs to capture the attention of the audience. That one of the responsibilities of the Prophet ﷺ was to go out and recite the Qur'an to his community. As a prophet, as a messenger, that was one of his responsibilities. That when he would receive wahi, when he would receive the Qur'an, he was told to go and recite it to the community. So by opening his recitation with these letters that the Arabs were familiar with, but using them in a style in a manner that was unknown, it would capture people's attention.

It would grab the attention of the audience. You know if I were to come up here and just say ABC, everyone's going to be looking at me like what the heck is this guy talking about? Are you going to be paying attention? So similarly the Prophet ﷺ — these letters were revealed to serve as a tool of capturing the attention of the audience.

Another possibility is to remind us that no matter how much we know, there's always something that we do not know. To create this level of intellectual humility within ourselves, that despite all of our advancements in terms of technology and medicine and all of these discoveries and research and inventions, our knowledge as human beings is very, very limited. Our knowledge is nothing compared to the infinite and limitless knowledge of Allah ﷻ.

So by mentioning these letters we are reminded to be humble. That oh human being, you do not know. وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ — Allah ﷻ knows and you don't. So when you come towards the Qur'an, come to the Qur'an with humility in order to learn, in order to seek knowledge, in order to seek guidance.

Another explanation is that these letters, they are obviously letters from the Arabic language. And the Qur'an was revealed at a time that the culture of that community revolved around language. The Arabs of that time, they took a lot of pride in their ability to use the language in a very eloquent and beautiful and powerful way.

May Allah ﷻ open for us the doors of knowledge and wisdom, make us among those who listen to words and follow the best of them, teach us what will benefit us, benefit us from what You have taught us, and increase us in knowledge.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم، فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرحيم

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